Ukraine | 2022 | Documentary | 85’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

A young filmmaker Ihor discovers an unknown private film archive of his grandfather Leonid Burlaka, a famous Soviet cinematographer.

Through the time-damaged negatives, not only he gets closer to his granddad, but also, through the family history, he gets insights into the Ukrainian cinema in the 60ies and 70ies. Director reveals the parallels between a retired cinematographer struggling with progressing memory loss and the fragile cultural memory of Ukrainian heritage.

Ukraine | 2022 | Documentary | 70’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

A ‘Flying Saucer’ at Kyiv’s Lybidska train station has been a city’s important architectural mark for many decades – and is one of the architectural masterpieces of constructivism. Now, a ‘saucepan’ is at risk of being demolished and replaced by a trade center. An eminent architect Florian Yuriev combines music, colours and space in the buildings he contrived. It is also his past as a Gulag inmate that deeply influenced his personality and his heritage. The memories of former times entangle with the present-day challenges of constructing business in the capital of Ukraine, and with the fight against terminal illness: the mundane entangles with infinity.

Oleksiy Radynski is a filmmaker, writer and conceptual thinker. “Infinity according to Florian” is a tribute of one striking Kyiv-based artist to the other.

Ukraine | 2022 | Documentary | 90’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

A filmmaking student Marta Smerchynska follows a life-changing decision of her sister: to go to the monastery. A 22-year-old speaks about the process of coming to terms with the path her sister has choses, opens up and shares her fears, doubts, values and dearest dreams with her camera-diary. Smerchynska lets us get incredibly close to her family and her inner world, we witness her vulnerability, but also the strength of both sisters. A young girl who becomes a bride of Christ assembles the narrative about Greek catholic spiritual heritage and its revival in Ukraine

Ukraine | 2022 | Feature Film | 100’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

The story of a smuggler who values his family above all mesmerizes with aesthetically perfect sets, costumes, picturesque Carpathians and profound actors’ work.

Pamfir mesmerizes with aesthetically perfect sets, costumes, picturesque Carpathian valleys and profound actors’ work. The story of a smuggler who values his family above all embraces the elements of the Greek tragedy, westerns and ethnographic documentaries. At the same time, the drama of a geographically torn family and the struggle to be together is a matter millions of Ukrainians can relate to at the moment.

Ukraine | 2022 | Feature Film | 100’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

Maryna Er Gorbach created the panorama of the war in the East of Ukraine through one of its episodes – Flight MH17 from the Netherlands to Malaysia being shot down over Ukraine and the story of one family. In Klondike, we observe the frontline through the frame of a torn wall of their house. This framing brings us to reflect on the causes of the conflict in Donbass as well as its outcomes.

Ukraine | 2021 | Feature Film | 125’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

As they say, when you gaze into that abyss, it gazes back, and it tells you what you are made of. Visually impeccable long takes and a precise cross-section of an abyss are already a trademark of Valentyn Vasyanovych, and you can find them in his latest feature “Reflection”, which premiered in Venice. Starring the actor from celebrated “Atlantis” Andriy Rymaruk alongside masterful theater performer Roman Lutsky, “Reflection” focuses on a high-level friendship and fatherhood, and explores commitment, faithfulness and living up to one’s ideals.

SCREENINGS

Ukraine | 2022 | Documentary | 77’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

One Day in Ukraine documents first weeks of the Russian full-scale invasion: people spending nights underground train stations, the volunteers supplying members of 'Teroborona' - Civil Defense Units formed of civilians who stood up to protect their hometowns, a looter is being persecuted by the local activists. We know about it from our own experience, stories of friends and media. One day in Ukraine is a diary, a witness’s testimony and one of the first artistic approaches to the reality of the full-scale invasion.

Selection of the Ukrainian Short Films vol I.

The program selection:

Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles | 12’ Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk Ukraine 2022

Her place: Marharyta | 7’ Olha Koval(Tuharinova) Ukraine 2020

Rain Project | 23’ Oleg Chorny Ukraine 2016

Remember the Smell of Mariupol | 5’ Zoya Laktionova Ukraine 2022

What Shall We Do with These Buildings? | 28’ Jonathan Ben-Shaul Ukraine 2022

Ach so | 3’ Polina Piddubna Ukraine 2022

Selection of the Ukrainian Short Films vol II.

The program selection:

Phase | 20’ Nickolay Zaseev Ukraine 2021

Leopolis Night | 27’ Nikon Romanchenko Ukraine 2021

Dad’s sneakers | 20’ Olha Zhurba Ukraine 2021

The Diaper Cake | 17’ Anastasia Babenko Ukraine 2021

Good Boy | 15’ Mariia Ponomarova Netherlands/Ukraine 2021

Ukraine | 2022 | Feature Film | 107’ | Original Version with English Subtitles

After spending months as a prisoner in Donbas, Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance expert Lilia returns home to her family. But the trauma of captivity continues to torment her and surface in dreamlike ways. Something growing deep within Lilia will not allow her to forget, yet she refuses to identify as a victim and will fight to liberate herself.

Maksym Nakonechnyi’s feature debut is a harsh and all-too-timely testimony to the warriors of Ukraine and the women fighting for their integrity, their freedom, and their future.

Statement from the curators: “This film shows the female perspective of the russian-Ukrainian war and it feels like one of the most important Ukrainian films about the ongoing war. The director Maksym Nakonechnyi thought this film could be a reflection on all the hard things our country was going through since 2014 but when it was released it became as actual as never before”.